If you want to learn to play violin, you may be asking yourself, “Can I teach myself to play violin?” “Do I need a private teacher to play violin?” I’ve been a violin teacher for over 15 years and my opinion on this subject has drastically changed in that amount of time.

If you had asked me 15 years ago if you can teach yourself violin, I would have said an immediate no. But the technology (and my mindset) has changed so much over the last decade that I now firmly believe you can teach yourself to play violin and be successful at it!

Fifteen years ago I would also have said that you must have IN-PERSON violin lessons to be successful. Well, that was before I started teaching exclusively online violin lessons. I learned very quickly that a good violin teacher can see, hear, understand, and teach a student just as well in an online setting as in an in-person lesson.Then I began to realize a couple things that made me understand how students could teach themselves the violin with the resources available online.

But perhaps the biggest reason I changed my mind on this subject was the realization of how I truly learned to play the violin…read on to find out more!

Download Your Free “Learn to Play Violin” Checklist! Click here to download your checklist.

3 Reasons You Can Teach Yourself Violin

Everyone is unique, but everyone also deals with the same common problems.

As I taught more and more students I began to see the same problems and bad habits arising with every student, whether they were 8 or 80. I realized I could record a few lessons about these common bad habits that all violin students face, send them out to my students, and then have more time to spend on other topics in their private violin lessons. (Here’s an example)

This worked tremendously well. First off, I was spending less time teaching the same thing over and over again. Secondly, students were able to realize what bad habits might creep up BEFORE those bad habits even developed. Win win for everyone.

2. Technology Makes it Possible to Teach Yourself Violin

This is a pretty obvious statement, but with my experience recording lessons for students to watch on their own time, I realized the possibilities technology offered in violin instruction.

In private violin lessons, there is never enough time to teach a student absolutely everything they need to know about a subject. Learning violin involves not only learning how to place the fingers and bow, but understanding music theory, ear training, relaxation, posture, motivation, practicing, and so many other topics.

There was never enough time to teach students all the required information. I finished every 30 minute lesson trying to cram as much information in as possible, always feeling like I had never explained everything to the degree it needed to be explained.

Here’s where technology came in again and made learning violin by yourself possible.

With private violin lessons, I often spent the first lesson talking about the same things: how to tune the violin, how to put on the shoulder rest, what the names of the violin strings were, the parts of the violin ,etc. That usually took up an entire 30 minutes (and $40 of the students’ money). These lessons were usually pretty one-sided, with me doing most of the explaining and the students occasionally asking questions.

What if I could record all of those topics, send them to my students, and have them show up for the first lesson with their violin tuned, their shoulder rest on the violin, and ready to learn their first song? I would save them $40 and I would get to spend more time teaching them new things and saving more time for their questions. Another win for everyone around!

I began recording song tutorials with this same method and I realized I could take as much time as I needed to explain every aspect, every measure, every rhythm, every intonation problem, every “gotcha,” ever slur, every dynamic, everything a student would need to be successful learning that song.

Suddenly, private violin lessons didn’t seem that necessary when my collection of recordings covered every topic a beginner violin student would deal with, and in much more detail than any private lesson could provide.

Okay, time to rethink my staunch opinion on whether or not you can teach yourself to play violin. But there was one other reason that made me see it all in a new light.

#3 The Best Learners Are Their Own Teachers

What made some of my private students more successful at learning the violin than others? It wasn’t natural ability or talent. It wasn’t even dedication or a solid practice routine (although those things definitely helped). The reason some students progressed faster than others was that some students were simply better at teaching themselves.

Think about it, even if you take a private lesson every week, for every other day, every other minute your practice, you are your own teacher! Even if you are a brand new beginner, you are constantly evaluating what you are doing and coming up with ways to do it better!

That’s exactly what I do as a violin teacher.

It made me think of my first week after finishing graduate school. For the first time in over a decade, I no longer had formal violin lessons. It was a strange feeling, at one point incredibly freeing and on the other hand, very confusing.

What should I practice? How would I continue to make progress now that I was learning violin on my own? I soon discovered that when I became my own teacher, I began to analyze and understand my playing in ways I hadn’t been able to when I took private lessons. Being my own teacher and teaching myself the violin made me a better player and a better teacher!

So yes, you can teach yourself to play violin. Not only can you teach yourself the basics, I think you can teach yourself intermediate and advanced skills. Maybe there should be some caveats with that. Learning violin on your own is not for everyone and there’s definitely right ways and wrong ways to teach yourself violin.

Learning violin on your own might work for you if you…

Are self-motivated (Most adults are even if you don’t think you are. How do you know you’re self-motivated? Do you need cheap toys from Dollar General to bribe you to practice? No? Okay, you’re more motivated than 90% of children. Congratulations. You probably have the motivation to learn violin yourself.)
Have personal discipline (Teaching yourself violin means practicing every day (or at least most days)
Have the time to analyze problems on your own (this can be better although sometimes more time-consuming than someone telling you your problems)
Can organize your time
Enjoy moderate challenges
Don’t have time for private lessons or don’t live near any violin teachers

Learning violin on your own is not for you if you…

Don’t like to push yourself
Have trouble focusing
Don’t like practicing by yourself
Have trouble sticking with a routine
Want to play at Carnegie Hall

How to Teach Yourself Violin (The Dos and Don’ts of Learning Violin on Your Own)

Okay, you’ve decided you can teach yourself violin. Great! There’s a couple things you should watch out for and a couple things you should do to make learning the violin on your own easier.

Don’t Piece Together Lessons on Youtube. Find a Self-Taught Course with Meaningful Progression.

Probably the biggest issues students face when trying to teach themselves to play violin is dabbling in this and that and never learning anything in a meaningful progression. That’s a recipe for frustration. You’re also going to miss out on valuable lessons that you need to understand for advanced concepts and you may develop bad habits along the way. This is where teaching yourself to play violin can be disastrous.

How to avoid that frustration? Find a self-taught violin course that will show you all the fundamentals in an easy to follow progression.

Ahem. Um, yes you know what I’m about to say. I have some options for you when it comes to “teach yourself violin” courses. And yes, they happen to be my courses. What a coincidence!

My “Learn Violin in One Hour” course is over an of instruction on literally everything you need to know to get started. I’ll cover topics like how to choose a good violin, how to tune your violin, how to put on the shoulder rest, how to adjust the shoulder rest, how to hold the bow, how to play the left hand fingers, how to play violin easily without finger tapes, and an easy song. Yes, all in an hour.

Best of all, it’s totally free! Why? Because it’s my mission to make it easier for people to teach themselves violin. As a violin teacher I’ve also struggled for years helping students who didn't get a good start with the fundamentals. Having to relearn the basics can be frustrating so I want you to have the best possible start. Trust me, if there are fewer students out there with stiff bow holds, I’ll be a happier person. Sign up for the free course here.

2. Get a Practice Routine and Stick With It!!

Setting up a good practice routine is probably the next best thing you can do to be successful at teaching yourself violin. I’ve got lots of advice on how to set up a good practice routine.

Click here to read and watch my ultimate practice guide for violin beginners (and intermediate and advanced players and anyone else who practices anything!)

3. Commit to Practicing Every Day (or at Least Most Days)

If you can practice every day, even for a small amount of time, you’ll make progress and be able to learn violin on your own. Regular practice is essential to learning this instrument. It’s better to practice ten minutes a day every day rather than two hours once a week.

Regular practice will help you continue to make progress which means you’ll want to practice more. This cycle is so important to staying motivated.

4. Learn to Be a Detective

To be your own violin teacher, you have to get down in the nitty-gritty of violin playing. If something doesn't sound right. Act like a detective. Don’t just play it again and again and again hoping for different outcomes (that’s the definition of a crazy person, right?)

Stop. Get out your proverbial magnifying glass. Is it a rhythm problem? A problem with note reading? A left hand problem? A right hand problem? Once you figure out what the issue is, you’ll be able to come up with a solution to fix it!

Common Questions About Teaching Yourself Violin

I don’t know how to read music. Can I teach myself violin?

Yep! In fact, I teach who to play violin basics without ever picking up a piece of sheet music. You’ll learn better, have better muscle memory and ear training if you learn the basics without looking at music. Trust me, there will be plenty of time to learn to read music and I’ll help you through it.

I used to play piano (or guitar, or any other instrument). Will it be easier to learn violin?

Any musical background will help you when it comes to learning violin on your own. But it’s definitely not a prerequisite. I have students that have never been involved with any sort of music making other than listening to the radio and they are phenomenal players.

Am I too old to learn violin?

Oh brother, do I have an opinion on this one. I believe my personal journey with learning violin gives me the authority to answer this question. I’ve got a whole blog on that topic! Read it here.

How Long Will it Take to Learn Violin?

The beautiful thing about the violin is that it is a journey that is never complete. That should be encouraging. No matter how much I progress, no matter how well I play, there’s always something else to learn, a new song to master, a new style of playing to discover.

But to answer your question, learning the basics totally depends on how much time you have to spend. (And whether or not you are spending that time the right way). An average player spending an average of 30 minutes a day practicing will be playing at an advanced beginner/intermediate level in around a year. What’s an advanced beginner/intermediate level? That means playing those songs you really like, like Swallowtail Jig, Ashokan Farewell, Irish Washerwoman, etc.